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And he was probably going to pay for it.
But If flailing around on a frozen pond like an idiot meant Sage Thompson could have even one thing she should have had in abundance growing up, then he’d do it gladly. Again and again.
He stepped onto the ice and was happy to see it didn’t crack.
His first step was… acceptable.
His second step was less so.
By his third step, he discovered that distributing nearly three hundred and fifty pounds across two narrow blades created an entirely new and hostile relationship with friction.
His fourth step was a full, committed airborne disaster that ended with him meeting the ice from above with a thunderous whump that startled three birds out of a nearby pine.
Sage stopped gliding.
She turned.
Looked at him.
Looked at the impact crater he’d left in the snow.
Looked back at him.
“Are you—”
“I’m fine,” he grunted, already pushing himself up.
“You just—”
“I’m fine.”
Getting vertical took longer than he cared to admit and involved a sequence of undignified movements he intended to erase from his memory forever.
Eventually he managed to stand, arms slightly out for balance, jaw set with the grim, stubborn determination of a man who had survived BUD/S, three wars, and far worse things than a frozen pond.
He was not going to be defeated by ice in front of a five-foot-three goth girl in a black coat.
He took a careful step.
Remained upright.
Another step.
Still upright.
Cautious optimism flickered to life in his chest.
Sage glided past him skating backward, hands clasped behind her, watching him with radiant, barely contained joy. “You’re doing great.”
“Don’t,” he warned.
“You look very natural.”
“Sage.”
“Very… graceful. Very—” She lost the rest of it to laughter, full-body and bright, eyes squeezed shut as she tried (and failed) to cover her mouth. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry— it’s just… your arms,” she managed, gesturing at the way he was holding them out for balance — somewhere between a tightrope walker and a man desperately trying to signal a passing plane.
“This is biomechanically necessary,” he said with as much dignity as he could muster.
